Welcome from the National Research
Center for Women & Families President, Diana Zuckerman, PhD
All of these women are amazing
and inspiring. They have all been appreciated and recognized
for their contributions through the years. And yet, at a time
when so many of us are concerned that women are still fighting
for their health, safety, equality, and economic security, it
is easy to lose sight of how far we have come and of the women
who helped us get to where we are today. So, we want to honor
and recognize them today and let them know how much we appreciate
them, enjoy working with them, and feel privileged to follow
in their footsteps.
Today we are honoring five
women who made their mark in this city and nationwide, and whose
lives have improved our lives. They broke down barriers before
it was fashionable and continued long after they were expected
to retire.
I first met Dr. Frances Kelsey
in 2001, in her 80's, when she was still working at the FDA
and they were celebrating her accomplishments. I have enjoyed
working with Mal Johnson on a many women's issues through the
National Council of Women's Organizations and with Dr. Janette
Sherman to reduce the harm of environmental exposures that threaten
the health of adults and children. I have been inspired by Wilhelmina
Cole Holladay's gift to us all -- the National Museum for Women
in the Arts. And, I have admired Marguerite Cooper's wonderful
work on behalf of women in government. I am thrilled to have
the opportunity to honor all these women today.
We are especially honored
to have former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder with us today. Few
women have been as inspiring as Pat Schroeder as she broke down
barrier after barrier and fought to improve the lives of all
women -- and men and families -- across the country.
This luncheon is a small
token of how much we appreciate them and want to thank them
for being there for us. They were there for us many years ago
and are still there for us today.
Mistress of Ceremonies
Pat Schroeder
Former Congresswoman Patricia
Scott Schroeder has been President and CEO of the Association
of American Publishers (AAP) since 1997. Ms. Schroeder left
Congress, undefeated, in 1996 after representing the Denver
area in the U.S. House of Representatives for 24 years.
In addition to heading the
AAP, Ms. Schroeder also serves on the Marguerite Casey Foundation
Board of Directors and the American Bar Association's Center
for Human Rights Executive Committee. She also serves on various
advisory committees dealing with literacy and issues affecting
children and women.
Born in Portland, Oregon
in 1940, Pat Schroeder graduated magna cum laude in 1961 from
the University of Minnesota, having worked to support herself
through college. At Harvard Law School, she was one of only
15 women in a class of more than 500 men. She earned her J.D.
in 1964 and moved to Denver, Colorado with her husband, James,
who in 1972 encouraged her to challenge an incumbent Republican
for the House seat representing Colorado's First Congressional
District.
The mother of two young children
at the time she was elected, Ms. Schroeder went on to serve
12 terms. She had many legislative accomplishments as Dean of
Congressional Women, and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus
on Women's Issues for 10 years. She served on the Judiciary
Committee, the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and
was the first woman on the Armed Services Committee. As chair
of the House Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families
from 1991 to 1993, Mrs. Schroeder guided the Family and Medical
Leave Act and the National Institutes of Health Revitalization
Act to enactment.
She is the author of two
books: Champion of the Great American Family and 24 Years of
House Work...and the Place Is Still a Mess. She is in the National
Women's Hall of Fame.
Marguerite Cooper
Not many people tangled with
Henry Kissinger and won. Marguerite Cooper did - as one of the
lead plaintiffs in a gender discrimination suit against the
State Department in 1976. Department policy had prohibited female
- but not male - members of the Foreign Service from marrying
or having any dependents.
Ms. Cooper was born in 1934
in El Segundo, California. She graduated from the University
of Southern California and joined the Foreign Service in 1956,
when fewer than 5% of Foreign Service officers were women. Postings
in most of the world were closed to women because of dangerous
conditions or because host governments would have objected.
Most of the women who made it overseas had clerical jobs.
After 14 years of service,
and considerable frustration, Ms. Cooper co-founded the Women's
Action Organization (WAO) to promote equitable treatment and
representation of women and men in the State Department and
Foreign Service. She led the organization for 18 years, as President
and Vice-President, succeeding in opening new career paths,
geographic areas of service, and plum assignments for women.
The WAO also fought to improve the lives of State Department
employee's wives. It received the President's Management Improvement
Award from President Nixon in 1972.
In 1987 Ms. Cooper retired
from the Service, leaving it a more equitable place, and she
received the Equal Employment Opportunity Award from then-Secretary
of State George Shultz.
When she retired, Ms. Cooper
jumped right into politics, working as a staff member on Presidential
and Congressional campaigns. In 1996, she began using her political
knowledge to benefit women candidates, becoming active in the
National Women's Political Caucus. She has served on their Executive
Committee as Vice President for Education and Training since
2003, helping train thousands of candidates for appointed and
elective office.
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay
was born in 1922 and grew up in Elmira, NY. Her interest in
art led her to study art history as an undergraduate at Elmira
College and as a graduate student at the University of Paris.
Art did not start out as a career, however. Ms Holladay moved
to Washington, DC in the final years of World War II and worked
for an Air Force general. She later held a position at the information
desk for the National Gallery of Art, and worked at the Chinese
Embassy as the social secretary to Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
It was while traveling in
Europe in the 1960s, that Ms Holladay and her husband first
encountered the work of a 17th century painter named Clara Peeters.
Although they were both knowledgeable about art history, neither
had ever heard of Peeters. When they came home, they checked
all their art reference books, including H.W. Janson's classic,
History of Art. They discovered there wasn't a single woman
in any of their books.
For the next 20 years, the
Holladays traveled to top commercial galleries around the world
in search of art by women, in order to demonstrate the contribution
of women artists. Although galleries generally had limited collections
of work by female artists, where the Holladay's interest was
known beautiful paintings were found. They discovered beautiful
paintings and their efforts helped to generate more interest
in women artists. They were also able to collect art by many
recognized masters, including Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt,
and Georgia O'Keefe. In 1981, they donated their collection
to found a National Museum of Women in the Arts. The museum,
now a Washington DC landmark, first opened its doors six years
later, and it remains the only museum in the world dedicated
exclusively to female artists.
The museum's permanent collection
features more than 3,000 objects representing work by more than
800 women artists from the 16th century to the present. It also
houses a Library and Research Center with 19,000 volumes, periodicals,
videos and archival files on over 18,000 women artists from
around the world.
Mal Johnson
Mal Johnson was born in Philadelphia
and grew up there, earning her B.A. at Temple University, and
starting her career as a teacher in the Philadelphia school
system. She married a neighbor who was in the U.S. Air Force,
and as they traveled the world, she taught in England, Germany,
and Guam. Back in the U.S., Ms. Johnson received a Master's
degree in Intergroup Relations and Community Dynamics from Springfield
University in Massachusetts. When her husband died at Westover
Air Force Base of injuries related to his service in Vietnam,
Mal returned to Philadelphia, this time to work in the Civil
Rights Movement. She was offered a job at WKBS-TV as the "Cash
for Trash" "girl." She was the first woman in the country to
host "Dialing for Dollars."
In 1969, Ms. Johnson was
offered a job at the Cox Radio and Television News Bureau in
Washington, DC. She sought advice from two colleagues, Barbara
Walters and Jim Vance, both of whom urged her to take the job.
She did, and she stayed for "27 wonderful years."
Ms. Johnson was the first
female reporter employed at Cox Radio and Television News and
their first female White House correspondent. She covered five
presidents, and was part of the White House Press Corp when
President Nixon made his historical visits to Russia and China
as well as when he resigned his Presidency. She also covered
Capitol Hill, the State Department, and various Federal agencies.
In 1980, Ms. Johnson was promoted to Senior Washington Correspondent
and assigned additional duties as National Director of Community
Affairs.
Ms. Johnson is currently
Main Representative at the U.N. of the International Association
of Women in Radio and Television, and she continues to serve
on numerous boards. She is a Founder of the National Association
of Black Journalists and the National Broadcast Association
for Community Affairs. She was inducted in the Journalists Hall
of Fame in 2000. A TV documentary of her life is in the Archives
of the History Makers of America.
After leaving Cox in 2000,
Ms. Johnson created her own media consulting firm, Medialinx
International.
Frances Oldham Kelsey, PhD, MD
Born in 1914 in British Columbia,
Frances Oldham Kelsey earned her BSc in 1934 from McGill University.
After completing her MSc degree in pharmacology there in 1935,
she applied to the University of Chicago. A response addressed
to "Mr. Oldham" offered her a research assistantship and scholarship
in the PhD program at Chicago.
As a graduate student, Dr.
Kelsey worked with a team that helped determine why a product
known as Elixir Sulfanilamide had killed more than 100 people,
including many children. They discovered that the product had
an ingredient similar to antifreeze. Public outrage over the
case resulted in a new federal law requiring companies to prove
scientifically that their products were safe and effective before
they could be sold.
After completing her PhD
in pharmacology, Dr. Kelsey joined the faculty at the University
of Chicago. She later met and married another faculty member,
Dr. Fremont Kelsey. She gave birth to two daughters while in
medical school, completed her MD in 1950, and then worked reviewing
medical journal articles and teaching at the University of South
Dakota.
In 1960, as a new FDA employee,
she was asked to review a sleeping pill that was already available
in other countries, called thalidomide. Although pressured by
the manufacturer to quickly approve the drug, Dr. Kelsey was
concerned about possible toxicity, especially if used during
pregnancy. She kept the drug off the market by asking for better
research data. Meanwhile, European physicians began reporting
a growing number of births of babies with abnormal limbs, toes
sprouting from the hips, and flipper-like arms. By 1961, thalidomide
was found to be the cause. Ten thousand children in 46 counties
were born with birth defects attributed to thalidomide use,
but, thanks to Dr. Kelsey's work, only 17 were in the U.S.
In 1962, President Kennedy
presented Dr. Kelsey with the highest civilian honor: the medal
for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service. And once again,
Congress strengthened the FDA. Dr. Kelsey continued to work
at the FDA until she was in her late 80's.
Janette D. Sherman, MD
Janette D. (Miller) Sherman
was born in 1930 in Buffalo, and grew up in Wasaw, NY. She completed
her BS in 1952 at Western Michigan University, and started her
career working for the Atomic Energy Commission (University
of California, at Berkeley) and the US Navy Radiological Defense
Laboratory. She earned her M. D. in 1964 at Wayne State University,
and trained in Internal Medicine in Detroit. Dr. Sherman was
the only woman at Receiving Hospital during her time there as
both an intern and a senior resident.
In private practice in Detroit,
Dr. Sherman recognized the connection between her patients'
illnesses and the chemicals they were exposed to at work - mostly
in heavy industry. As a result of her observations, she studied
and became an expert in toxicology. In the late 1970's she was
a consultant on the infamous Love Canal case, where she helped
prove that where one lives can be just as hazardous to one's
health as where one works. From 1976 to 1982, Dr. Sherman was
a member of the advisory board for the EPA Toxic Substances
Control Act.
Over the course of her career
Dr. Sherman served as a medical-legal expert for thousands of
individuals harmed by exposure to toxic chemicals, pharmaceuticals
and nuclear radiation. Her work helped to institute the ban
the pesticides chlordane and Dursban.
Dr. Sherman believes that
the most hazardous environmental exposure is now nuclear radiation,
including nuclear power plants. The National Library of Medicine
is currently archiving her medical-legal and scientific records
to make them available for research.
Dr. Sherman is an Adjunct
Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Western
Michigan University, and a Research Associate with the Radiation
and Public Health Project. She is the author of Life's Delicate
Balance: Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer and Chemical
Exposure and Disease. She works as an editor, writes for the
popular press, and has published more than 70 scientific articles.
She can be reached at:
www.janettesherman.com.
